Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

• A lot of the LDCs are found in Sub-Saharan Africa eg. Ethiopia, Gambia, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. A few are found outside Africa eg. Afghanistan (Asia) and Haiti (the Caribbean)

• Theres a massive gap in development between the LDCs and the most developed countries - in terms of the global economy, the richest 1/5 of the global population have 80% of the worlds income and the poorest 1/5 have only 1%

•The difference in the level of development between more and less developed countries is called the Development Gap

•Economic:
 - low incomes: in LDCs the GNI per capita is less than $745 eg. in Ethiopia in 2010 the GNI per capita was $380
 - Poor Trade Links: many LDCs have little involvement in world trade- the poorest 49 countries make up 10% of the worlds population, but only account for 0.4% of world trade
 - High Levels of debt: many LDCs borrow money from more developed countries for development projects, eg. building dams and roads. The loans are large and many have high interest rates - lots of LDCs are forced to spend money on debt repayments rather than on development
 - Trade in low profit goods: many less developed countries rely on the export of primary products eg. agricultural products such as sugar and cotton, timber and minerals eg iron ore. The price paid for these products is low
 - Trade deficit: many LDCs spend more on importing goods than they earn exporting goods. They sell low profit primary products to more developed countries, who manufacture goods from these products. More developed countries then sell the manufactured goods to less developed countries at high prices.
 - Economic Stability: the economies of many LDCs are unstable because they're based on agriculture and dependent on exporting primary products. So if the crops fail so does the economy. LDCs often also rely on a narrow range  of exports which makes them vulnerable if the price falls. Eg. Ghana heavily relies on the export of cocoa


•Social:
 - Limited health care: in LDCs there are thousands of patients per doctor eg. in Ethiopia there are over 30,000 patients for every doctor compared to around 360 patients for every doctor in the UK
 - High IMR eg. in Ethiopia in 2010, there were 75 deaths per 1000 live births compared to 5 deaths per 1000 live births in the UK
 - High levels of malnutrition eg. in Ethiopia, between 2004 and 2005, 46% of the population was undernourished, and malnutrition was responsible for over half of all deaths of children under 5
 - high numbers of people infected by disease, eg. an estimated 9 million  people in Ethiopia contract malaria every year (around 10% of the population)
 - Low levels of education eg. primary school attendance in Ethiopia was 45% between 2005 and 2010
 - Low literacy rates eg. the adult literacy rate in Ethiopia in 2012 was 30%
 - Lack of access to clean water and sanitation (toilets and safe disposal of human waste) eg. in Ethiopia in 2006 only 42% of people had access to clean water and 11% had access to sanitation

•Demographic:
 - Low life expectancy eg. life expectancy at birth in Ethiopia in 2012 was 56, compared to 80 in the UK
 - Many LDCs have a much higher birth rate than death rate eg. the birth rate in Ethiopia in 2012 was 42 per 1000 people per year and the death rate was 11 per 1000 people per year. Having a much higher birth rate than death rate causes rapid population growth which can lead to other problems eg. food shortages

•Political:
 - Many LDCs don't have a democratic government eg. up until 1994 Ethiopia was a communist state
 - Political corruption is a problem in many LDCs eg. at general elections in Ethiopia in 2005, allegations of vote rigging led to hundreds of people being arrested and imprisoned for treason. Some governments of LDCs have also been accused of keeping money the country have received as loans, rather than spending it on development
 - Many LDCs were badly affected by war and conflict, eg. tens of thousands of people were killed between 1998 and 2000 in the conflict between Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea. During times of conflict, less money is spent on development (as so much is spent on the conflict itself)

• Cultural:
 - Inequality - between men and women or between other social or ethnic groups. Eg. in Ethiopia men and women are not treated equally - between 2005 and 2010 30% of males were attending secondary schools compared to only 23% of females.